Advice/Help GM Concerns

Desruc

Professional Digimon Tamer
I have been a GM since July 2017, where I hosted my first Roleplay. From then on, the people that stayed by my side from that point, and also came to it between now and July of 2017 have also loved my stories and the way I GM. I want to know, how can I approve? I worry with my newest Roleplay, I won't be able to please everyone like I've been able to in the past. I want to be able to create complex, multi-layered stories everyone loves, and not be like that simple GM which leaves great plot potential on loose ends. Is there any way you guys keep track without writing out the entire thing? Like, a log or something? Thanks in advance!
 
I always try to write down the 'chapters' for the roleplays I have. In private for myself in a word document. I add in any ideas I have (or the group comes with) and use that as a guideline. Because I also like to be a flexible GM and give every player some influence on the plot and what they would like to see in a roleplay. It isn't always as easy and yes, I have failed to keep the story going before as well. But I find that when I have a story line / backbone for the roleplay it is for me easier to GM a group. That way I can also push the plot a bit when things go silent. Every now and then build in a time skip to the next 'chapter' and such.

I also like to keep summaries of the roleplays in the OOC of the roleplay. It both helps me to keep track of the flow, and it is easy for the roleplayers to quickly check up on the whereabouts and situation without having to re-read all the posts.

I am sure there are also other ways to do this as well. But this is how I do it. I also notice I am better at GM'ing whenever I have a good story line written down. If you, as the GM, can not envision the plot development or story line it often becomes a bit sloppy and the chance is the roleplay will run wild, before dying a slow painful dead. But that is my experience.
 
I do say that being GM is a lot like being a manager. Your job isn't to please your players but to make sure that the roleplay keeps moving forward and that everyone is treated fairly. I know a lot of people have a fear of being disliked by their players but in my experience people respect you more for making clear guidelines and sticking to them. It makes the roleplay a lot more secure and people don't feel like they have to fight a popularity contest to get anything done.

(I've been in roleplays that were run based on an idea of pleasing everyone and I hated them. I always felt like I was having to fight my way through OOC drama to make sure that I wasn't ostracized because I said/did something another player didn't like.)

Now that said I think DarkiusHeavenstein DarkiusHeavenstein made excellent points on how to keep things fair and proactive. Make up an outline and keep a short summary of the current activity available to players. I would also add be willing to employ time skips and scene breaks whenever things get stagnant or when you need to move from one point in the outline to another.
 
Overall, it's not a good idea to try to please everyone. I'm not saying you can't try to appease all your players (well, you can't if the group is too large, but it should be manageable if it's not all the time and it's a small group), but rather that it's not a good goal to have, it's counterproductive. Appealing and making people happier will involve appealing to their tastes and what they want to see, which will differ wildly from person to person. An ok roleplay will accept what you want to do, but a great one will recipocrate your passion for those things specifically- but one can't have that level of passion about it all. When people can want opposite things, neither ruling will satisfy them both.

Speaking less generally and more personally, if someone tells me they will "do anything" when looking for an RP with me, I will reject the request on the spot. That kind of attitude is only born of desperation, lying and/or a total lack of self-awareness. It's not sustainable, and it's not the kind of attitude I want in a partner. People have preferences and things they want to do or not- working with stuff you are most invested in will have on average much better results (there is such a thing as going too far of course). I believe the same goes for trying to spread out the appeal too much, at some point it just starts draining the actual substance of your content.

Long story short, it's best to try appealing to the players who are interested in what you have to offer well, rather than trying to appeal to a bigger audience that will inevitably be done more poorly than what you might achieve otherwise.

With that out of the way, a trio of tips for creating a good, engaging and layered story that remains flexible:

1.Golden Rule of Consistency
The rule of consistency was one of the most important ones I learned as a roleplayer and writer in general. It exists in two parts, consistency of internal logic (AKA following the rules and whatever you've established), and consistency of consequence (where things have causes and effects that exist within the logic of common sense + what was established). Consistency can greatly improve all aspects of one's writing, by reducing plot holes, connecting things better and streamling what otherwise could've been chaotic messes, it can even help you generate content.

Maybe instead of following the king's mission, unknown that it was a manipulative ploy all along, the characters instead are poor and hungry so they go to the kitchen and steal food. Because you've worldbuilt your setting with consistency though, you know that the country is undergoing a famine, making stealing food a much more serious crime, so the players are chased out of the palace as fugitive criminals, which divides the people between those that side with the heroes that came to protect them and those who remain utterly loyal to the royalty, sparking the flames of the already ongoing rebellious forces, giving them the trigger they needed to emerge from the shadows. Suddenly you have this epic runaways/civil war plot which your players are engaged with, made use of what you had built up, and resulted from their actions, making them feel more meaningful.

All just by letting the consequences of the player's free actions engage with content you created.

2.Keeping Things Solid
I was pondering whether to include this one as it kind of is just a subsect of my first point, but here goes: I would generally recommend trying to work on establishing things in a solid manner before the players are to engage with those things. Now, it will not be possible to do this with every detail, but trying to establish how the magic and such works, how one could expect the people from a certain area to be like, etc, what the villain's personality and goal is, etc... means that you can let players act more freely within your setting and story, and helps you give it a sense of depth, true depth, that players can enjoy exploring and engaging with.

3.Envolve and Engage With the Players Personally
Perhaps the biggest, most important thing to me in a GM (though not the only crucial one), is that they engage with me. I'm not a token just filling a slot, I'm one of the roleplayers trying to bring something of my own to the group. I put my heart and soul into the stuff I do, so I want to share it and I'm going to be happier seeing it appreciated, and really brought into the story as an important element, rather than just as a one-size-fits-all solution.

It's hardly just me though. Fundamentally a player is not joining your roleplay because of you. Even if you had the best damn plot and world ever, if you can't show it appeals to the players, if they feel like they aren't gaining enough from it, they still won't join. A player ultimately cares about their side of the equation first and foremost, their character more than any plot or world you have to throw at them. Because of this, as you go on, I really recommend taking a genuine interest in the characters people are making, and crafting the story around incorporating the player's decisions and the characters they have built, the lore they brought in if any, their backstories, personalites all of it.

Is there any way you guys keep track without writing out the entire thing? Like, a log or something?

Well, you will most likely have to write some things, but you definitely don't have to outline the whole story- not like that would be possible anyway- so instead, focus on the most crucial aspects:

*Answers to the questions/mysteries/set ups: If you create a mystery, set up a villain or a coming event, or create questions for your players to wonder about, you should always have the answers. This doesn't mean you have to give those away, it may be that they are never revealed even and instead left for the players to imagine. However, for the sake of consistency in your story and for the sake of giving your players a substancial mystery to unravel and pursue, you have to have it exist. If you don't know it yourself, then you'll later just be trying to force the puzzle pieces together and odds are it's going to be extremely contrived and probably disappointing. It's important that if your players choose to engage with what you set up, that you can give them something that'll make them feel it was worth it.

*Worldbuilding: I adressed in my point about making things solid earlier, but if your setting matters at all, then you should make it solid. You should have the space the players want to explore, at least as a vague idea, before they even go to explore it- and if you didn't flesh it out by the time they decide to go there, then you better get to it. Worldbuilding, especially extensive worldbuilding, can be hard to fully keep track of though, so it's advisable to keep it written down. It'll also make it easier to share that info with players later if you want.

*The Most Crucial Plot Points: Your plot should generally be flexible to player influence, but you may still have these couple of big-ass plot points that may even happen regardless of whether players are there (or even because they failed to get there). If there are ideas that you really want to bring in nmatter what, then I recommend keeping them written down, as well as surrounding information about these plot points.
The plot point itself may not show up in the way you envisioned it, but it can still create a sense of aw and dread if your big bad doesn't stop working on their evil plans just because the PCs decided to ignore it, and the apocalype just starts while they are flower shopping, forcing the characters to realize the foolishness of ignoring the call of fate.


One last thing...

I want to know, how can I approve?
I don't understand this question? Regardless, I hope you find the rest of my answers useful at least.

Best of luck and happy RPing!
 
Overall, it's not a good idea to try to please everyone. I'm not saying you can't try to appease all your players (well, you can't if the group is too large, but it should be manageable if it's not all the time and it's a small group), but rather that it's not a good goal to have, it's counterproductive. Appealing and making people happier will involve appealing to their tastes and what they want to see, which will differ wildly from person to person. An ok roleplay will accept what you want to do, but a great one will recipocrate your passion for those things specifically- but one can't have that level of passion about it all. When people can want opposite things, neither ruling will satisfy them both.

Speaking less generally and more personally, if someone tells me they will "do anything" when looking for an RP with me, I will reject the request on the spot. That kind of attitude is only born of desperation, lying and/or a total lack of self-awareness. It's not sustainable, and it's not the kind of attitude I want in a partner. People have preferences and things they want to do or not- working with stuff you are most invested in will have on average much better results (there is such a thing as going too far of course). I believe the same goes for trying to spread out the appeal too much, at some point it just starts draining the actual substance of your content.

Long story short, it's best to try appealing to the players who are interested in what you have to offer well, rather than trying to appeal to a bigger audience that will inevitably be done more poorly than what you might achieve otherwise.

With that out of the way, a trio of tips for creating a good, engaging and layered story that remains flexible:

1.Golden Rule of Consistency
The rule of consistency was one of the most important ones I learned as a roleplayer and writer in general. It exists in two parts, consistency of internal logic (AKA following the rules and whatever you've established), and consistency of consequence (where things have causes and effects that exist within the logic of common sense + what was established). Consistency can greatly improve all aspects of one's writing, by reducing plot holes, connecting things better and streamling what otherwise could've been chaotic messes, it can even help you generate content.

Maybe instead of following the king's mission, unknown that it was a manipulative ploy all along, the characters instead are poor and hungry so they go to the kitchen and steal food. Because you've worldbuilt your setting with consistency though, you know that the country is undergoing a famine, making stealing food a much more serious crime, so the players are chased out of the palace as fugitive criminals, which divides the people between those that side with the heroes that came to protect them and those who remain utterly loyal to the royalty, sparking the flames of the already ongoing rebellious forces, giving them the trigger they needed to emerge from the shadows. Suddenly you have this epic runaways/civil war plot which your players are engaged with, made use of what you had built up, and resulted from their actions, making them feel more meaningful.

All just by letting the consequences of the player's free actions engage with content you created.

2.Keeping Things Solid
I was pondering whether to include this one as it kind of is just a subsect of my first point, but here goes: I would generally recommend trying to work on establishing things in a solid manner before the players are to engage with those things. Now, it will not be possible to do this with every detail, but trying to establish how the magic and such works, how one could expect the people from a certain area to be like, etc, what the villain's personality and goal is, etc... means that you can let players act more freely within your setting and story, and helps you give it a sense of depth, true depth, that players can enjoy exploring and engaging with.

3.Envolve and Engage With the Players Personally
Perhaps the biggest, most important thing to me in a GM (though not the only crucial one), is that they engage with me. I'm not a token just filling a slot, I'm one of the roleplayers trying to bring something of my own to the group. I put my heart and soul into the stuff I do, so I want to share it and I'm going to be happier seeing it appreciated, and really brought into the story as an important element, rather than just as a one-size-fits-all solution.

It's hardly just me though. Fundamentally a player is not joining your roleplay because of you. Even if you had the best damn plot and world ever, if you can't show it appeals to the players, if they feel like they aren't gaining enough from it, they still won't join. A player ultimately cares about their side of the equation first and foremost, their character more than any plot or world you have to throw at them. Because of this, as you go on, I really recommend taking a genuine interest in the characters people are making, and crafting the story around incorporating the player's decisions and the characters they have built, the lore they brought in if any, their backstories, personalites all of it.



Well, you will most likely have to write some things, but you definitely don't have to outline the whole story- not like that would be possible anyway- so instead, focus on the most crucial aspects:

*Answers to the questions/mysteries/set ups: If you create a mystery, set up a villain or a coming event, or create questions for your players to wonder about, you should always have the answers. This doesn't mean you have to give those away, it may be that they are never revealed even and instead left for the players to imagine. However, for the sake of consistency in your story and for the sake of giving your players a substancial mystery to unravel and pursue, you have to have it exist. If you don't know it yourself, then you'll later just be trying to force the puzzle pieces together and odds are it's going to be extremely contrived and probably disappointing. It's important that if your players choose to engage with what you set up, that you can give them something that'll make them feel it was worth it.

*Worldbuilding: I adressed in my point about making things solid earlier, but if your setting matters at all, then you should make it solid. You should have the space the players want to explore, at least as a vague idea, before they even go to explore it- and if you didn't flesh it out by the time they decide to go there, then you better get to it. Worldbuilding, especially extensive worldbuilding, can be hard to fully keep track of though, so it's advisable to keep it written down. It'll also make it easier to share that info with players later if you want.

*The Most Crucial Plot Points: Your plot should generally be flexible to player influence, but you may still have these couple of big-ass plot points that may even happen regardless of whether players are there (or even because they failed to get there). If there are ideas that you really want to bring in nmatter what, then I recommend keeping them written down, as well as surrounding information about these plot points.
The plot point itself may not show up in the way you envisioned it, but it can still create a sense of aw and dread if your big bad doesn't stop working on their evil plans just because the PCs decided to ignore it, and the apocalype just starts while they are flower shopping, forcing the characters to realize the foolishness of ignoring the call of fate.


One last thing...


I don't understand this question? Regardless, I hope you find the rest of my answers useful at least.

Best of luck and happy RPing!

Woah, thanks for that, Idea! I'll make sure to keep everything solid and consistent. ^.^

Also, you just answered the entire question on how I become a better GM. Couldn't be more grateful :D
 
Woah, thanks for that, Idea! I'll make sure to keep everything solid and consistent. ^.^

Also, you just answered the entire question on how I become a better GM. Couldn't be more grateful :D
Ooh you meant “improve” not “approve” haha, I get it now.

Glad I could help! <3
 

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